Posts Tagged ‘trent parke’

Well, it certainly has been a while since I bothered posting about my ruminations on photography…. but you know, life gets busy and I figure there’s no point feeling like a slave to technology, particularly if there’s nothing much to be said. Not that this has been the case overall, and certainly the proverbial shitload has been going on, but you know…. I got a bit lazy and like I said, a lot’s been happening.

So what have I missed blogging about worth mentioning? Let’s see…. FotoFreo where I went to finally meet many e-buddies such as Andy Adams (Flak Photo), Mark McPherson (Big City Press), Rebecca Dagnall and Stacy Merfhar (both fab photographers), and where I also got to hang out with Amy Stein, Carry Levy, Jon Levy (no relation to Carry though, Jon runs Foto 8 in London), Brad Rimmer, Graham Miller (whose work I’ve posted about before and you couldn’t meet a nicer person), Sohrab Hura, Narelle Autio and many others. I also had the good fortune to be selected to participate in a Magnum workshop with Trent Parke, plus see a load of photo-shows and talks. In a word…. awesome experiences with a bunch of very interesting and lovely people. I could rattle on about how much fun I had but that would be boring. Suffice to say that the photo-community seems to me at least, to be a fun one. At least no one glazes over when you bang on and on about photography! I highly recommend photo festivals and am looking forward to one day getting over to the big ones in the US and Europe.

The National Portrait prize, in which I have a work is now traveling. The opening at the NPG was kinda fun. My mum was very funny and harassed the NPG photographer to track me down in order to photograph me in front of my work. Mums… what can I say!?😉 My work hung next to Ingvar Kenne‘s portrait of Alexis Wright, which was nice, as we are fans of each other’s work. Ingvar was last year’s winner, a judge in the Sony comp I won last year and another super nice bloke. He also features in Hijacked 2(see below).

But most importantly (big drumroll please), I finally submitted my thesis. Yay for me! Only took me 5 years and I’ve actually still got one week to go as my assessment is next Wednesday morning with the exhibition opening in the evening. So if you happen to be in Canberra and near the ANU School of Art, please do come along.

Let me tell you, I’m very glad I’m about finished. Definitely looking forward to making some new work and am hatching a few deadlines to keep me going (one of the good things about studying is the deadlines – forces you to reach goals!)

And, I also got back from a weekend in fabulous Sydney where I visited for the launch of the Hijacked 2 book and exhibition. The book, I must say looks fantastic, and Mark, Ute and Markus – as well as all their creative team – have done a fabulous job putting it together. I’m rather proud to be a part of it, I must say.

If you’re in Sydney come and check it out, otherwise it will be travelling to Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth. Oh and go buy the book, arriving on shore late this month.

I also bought Derek Henderson‘s monograph Mercy Mercer. Absolutely stunning book and I highly recommend this incredible photographer. Derek shoots 8×10″ large format in a style reminiscent of Alec Soth‘s but there’s something unique about Derek’s work. It’s imbued with a lyricism and rawness belonging to another world, (actually New Zealand). One of my favourite purchases this year.

Anyway, going forward, I’m not sure what’s going to happen with this blog. It’s actually now archived with the National Library of Australia and in perpetuity even – which is kind of nice – so even if I do hang it up, any of you interested readers out there can still access old stuff via the NLA Pandora archive. I won’t ride off into the sunset just yet, but will take my time coming back into the blogosphere. Will keep you posted no doubt…. that’s if any of you are even still there!?

One of the things about familial responsibility is that you don’t tend to travel as much – not sure why this has been in my case but I’d venture to say it’s mostly a lack of the proverbial dough that helps make travel and adventure possible. Before kids, my life was pretty footloose and fancy free… in fact it was quite nomadic until bubba #2 came along (an adventure of a different kind!). So since then, though I’ve managed to squeeze in a few overseas trips – sans enfants I might add – I’ve lived vicariously through friends and now it seems through other photographers’ blogs.

A recent unearthing came via Pause To Begin‘s blog of a New Yorker (sheesh, who isn’t these days!?) called Timothy Briner. His series called Boonville is amazing – at least what I’ve actually seen of it so far, and I love that he has shot the series in B&W, kinda refreshing in this colour saturated world. Reading about his travels criss-crossing the continent over 10 months, both solo and with his girlfriend made me green with envy (and yeah I know travelling ain’t easy! But try living in the one town for more than 8 years when you’ve got gypsy blood! It’s almost the stuff of curses!).

I’m particularly interested in comparing the American experience of being on the road to the Australian one and how such experiences have been expressed through the use of photography. Two incredibly vast and diverse countries but with quite different histories…

They are quintessentially Australian images, almost mythical in quality. I often wonder whether or not this Australian-ness is only observable and perhaps understood by Australians? I figure probably not because when I see American ‘road’ photographs, I feel very much like that is how America feels and would be like (wonderlust as opposed to wanderlust!). But perhaps this is simply someone else’s mythology?

Anyway, whatever it is, it’s been fuel for me throughout my dry spell of no travel. Perhaps I should simply get that bubble caravan that my kids want, hook it up to Elvis our (not-so) trusty Holden and drive off into the sunset? On the other hand, in this age of highly inflated petrol prices and now seeming financial uncertainties, perhaps armchair travelling is the way to go? Besides, the idea of two kids bickering and fighting their way across Oz in a confined space doesn’t bear contemplating…. at least not right this minute!